I retired in 2012 from the corporate world after 25 years with one of America's largest life insurance companies, most of it as a front-line manager and Communications and Marketing executive. Before that was a journalist for a decade, mostly as an editor and writer with Honolulu magazine. Have long been interested as a practitioner in the subject of management, both good and bad, effective and ineffective, what works and what doesn't. Founder and principal of Howling Wolf Management Training, LLC. You can follow me on Forbes, Facebook and Twitter, and I have a blog, "Mind of the Manager," at PsychologyToday.com.

It’s not that I’m uninterested in the Armstrong story. Quite the contrary.

But beyond the cheating, beyond the bullying, beyond the defiant lying, beyond the omerta (code of silence), the essence of Mr. Armstrong’s problem is manipulation. And its first cousin, control.

For well over a decade, Mr. Armstrong successfully manipulated the sports world, the media, his cycling colleagues – basically everyone imaginable.

Now that he’s in disgrace, facing potential sponsor clawbacks in the high millions, how does he choose to begin to resurrect his image? By a carefully chosen celebrity interview, rather than a real news conference in which he’d face real journalists and real cycling experts asking the toughest questions imaginable. No disrespect at all to Oprah – a phenomenal business person of course – but this is just more manipulation, more control, more of the same behavior that got him in trouble in the first place.

As one who’s provided counseling in crisis management and image management, I’d say first and foremost to Mr. Armstrong that he needs to slowly begin to re-establish credibility… and do so in a non-manipulative, non-controlling manner… if he wants to have any hope of being believed.

In short, face the real media, face real live hostile fire, face those he’s deceived for years… and take his medicine, no matter how strong and distasteful it may be. And answer truthfully.

It would all be over in an hour.

Now that’s a show I’d watch. And I believe it would be the first step toward forgiveness… which the American public is always ready to provide, particularly toward a person who has done great things, as Mr. Armstrong unquestionably has.

But please, no more attempts at control. No more manipulation. We’ve seen quite a bit of that already and it hasn’t worked out too well.

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Victor — I disagree. If Lance Armstrong really wanted credibility, he would testify under oath as requested by USADA. Often journalists ask the softball questions as Oprah has customarily done in her celebrity apology tour interviews. Now if it was David Walsh at the news conference, that might be a different case….

Fair point. Testifying under oath would be even better, but an actual news conference would be a great start. I’m confident the working journalists wouldn’t be asking any softball questions. Thanks, Hannah, for adding this perspective.

Funny that you say your not interested but you write this article. I wish Journalist would stop writing on the coat tails of others and actually writing good journalism. We have soldiers overseas and it seems that celebrities are more important. Secondly i dont care if Lance smoked pot while he was riding. I would still think he was the best. He is not the only Athlete to use something. There is not an Athlete out there that has not used something.

As I say in the piece, it’s “not that I’m disinterested in the Armstrong story. Quite the contrary.” I’m very interested in the entire (tragic) situation – just wary of any manipulative “infomercials,” as a prior commenter just put it. Thanks, Michael, for taking the time to read and write in.

Informercials aside, I can only imagine that Lance’s team of attorneys and public relations experts have been working around the clock this week as they prepare to spin the Oprah interview after it airs. I predict that the rhetoric that will spew from the Lance Armstrong camp after the 1st segment airs will be sickening.

It will be interesting to gauge how much of the pabulum the media consumes. Let’s hope they eye things more critically.